BHOPAL: With the state government issuing notification for Madhya Pradesh Real Estate (regulation and development) Rules, 2016, more than 600 cases at Madhya Pradesh State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission and Bhopal District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum may now get settled.About 350 cases are pending in Bhopal consumer forum while others are in the state commission.

Most of the cases pertain to delayed possession and lack of basic amenities, including water, sanitation, interiors and construction etc. According to the Act, if the promoter or the builder fails to handover the possession in time, he would have to refund the amount deposited or paid by the consumers with 10.9 per cent interest per annum. If the builder or developer fails to refund the money, he might get three years of rigorous imprisonment. The new Act also has a clause for establishing appellate tribunal to resolve the problems of consumers, who are fighting a protracted legal battle in consumer courts for the last one to four years. In past four years, only two city builders could be put behind bars for delay in handing over the possession or cheating the consumers.

Talking to TOI about the impact on pending cases, expert member of consumer forum bench Sunil Shrivastava, said, "Formation of tribunal will come as a relief for consumers and for us too, as there are hundreds of long standing cases against builders/developers in Bhopal consumer forum, where despite our orders they are not responding or have not paid the compensation to the consumers who have filed the cases. Moreover, in future, we will be able to transfer the case to appellate tribunal for quick and more technical resolution. Currently, we face problem when any technical point related to building is involved."

Advocate Manish Mishra, who deals in consumer cases, said, "If followed properly, this Act will improve the quality of real estate business in Madhya Pradesh. There are a lot of real estate opportunities and people are willing to buy homes, but hesitate to buy one due to hundreds of cases lying pending in consumer court against builders."